


It's Not a Cell Phone

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [32]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Being Lost, Brothers, Cell Phones, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Intimacy, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:28:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29261979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Elio and Oliver have been unwilling to provide Ollie with a phone. On this day, they will wish he had one.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	It's Not a Cell Phone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kittenpurple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenpurple/gifts).



> Gifted to Kittenpurple- Thanks for reading, kudo-ing, and commenting consistently! It's so encouraging!

Oliver was gripping his phone so tightly, he could see white creases along the tanned skin of his hand. He felt an inclination, a rather strong inclination, to throw his phone across the car. Rarely, if ever, had he been so frustrated. He glared at the phone he held, as if it were personally to blame for his inability to reach Elio though he’d called thirteen times. _What benefit could come from throwing it, though?_ Oliver wondered. Then his phone would be elsewhere in his car, probably out of reach. He’d still be stuck in traffic and would then be unable to continue his fruitless endeavor of reaching Elio. Fourteenth time’s the charm, they always say. 

Oliver had left work in plenty of time to be home before Ollie’s bus arrived. In fact, he left even earlier than he typically did. But, something must have happened. Road construction. A car accident. Oliver didn’t know the cause, but traffic had been at a stand still for forty-five minutes. He looked at the clock on the dash. 3:55. Ollie’s bus arrived just after 4:00. Oliver just wasn’t going to make it in time. He’d been attempting to reach Elio for thirty-five minutes, even though he knew Elio was still in class and would be unable to answer. 

Oliver took a few deep breaths and tried to convince himself that this situation, while not ideal, was also not desperate. He had talked to Ollie about what to do in this case. There was a plan. Ollie was supposed to go to Danny’s house. They had two-way agreement with Danny’s family in the event that either family found themselves in such a predicament. The problem with this plan, though, was that Oliver hadn’t been able to reach Danny’s family, either. He had told Ollie that as a backup plan, he should go to the back deck and work on his homework, but Oliver never really thought that would happen. In hindsight, this felt to Oliver like a most absurd plan. In his mind’s eye, Oliver could see little Ollie sitting on the deck, not knowing where anyone was. He would be so frightened. Ollie had lost his parents in a car accident almost a year ago, and so naturally he was fearful anytime that he didn’t know where Elio or Oliver were. Thinking about how scared Ollie would be, Oliver honestly felt like crying himself. 

As he was holding his phone, still raised and full of potential energy, ready to fly across the car at any further bit of bad news, it suddenly rang. “HELLO?” Oliver answered, panic evident in his voice. He hadn’t even glanced to see who was calling. 

It was Elio. “Oliver, what’s wrong? Is Ollie okay? I missed thirteen calls from you? I didn’t even read the texts yet,” Elio’s panic was only slightly less sharp than Oliver’s. 

“Elio where are you? Can you get home?” Oliver asked, hope in his voice. 

Elio’s answer was immediate, “I’m walking to the car now. I can’t be home for at least twenty minutes, and that’s if there’s no traffic.”

Oliver gripped the phone even tighter. “There’s traffic,” Oliver reported, looking at a sea of red brake lights as far as he could see. 

“It’s okay,” Elio tried to stay calm, since Oliver clearly wasn’t. A role reversal for them. “Ollie knows to go to Danny’s.” 

“I don’t think they are home,” Oliver muttered. “They don’t answer.”

Elio was silent then. “Do we call 911?” he asked. He really didn’t know.

A weary smile crossed Oliver’s face. “I don’t think so. Ollie’s supposed to go sit on the deck and do his homework. It’s not cold out, and if this traffic will let up, I can be there soon,” he explained. He didn’t admit that earlier he’d considered calling 911 himself, in his panic-stricken state. 

Elio breathed heavily into the phone, like a prank caller. 

“Elio? Are you okay?” Oliver asked. He needed Elio to keep it together. He genuinely didn’t believe that he could be the strong one right now. 

“Yes,” Elio answered. Followed by, “No. Not really. I don’t know. Maybe.” 

“Elio, the traffic is moving, I need to go. Drive carefully. I love you,” and then Oliver clicked the end call button. 

Elio just continued to pant into the now useless phone. 

After whipping his car into the driveway, Oliver leaped out and ran around to the back of the house calling Ollie’s name again and again. When he finally got to the deck, he was not surprised to see that it was vacant. Ollie’s backpack and lunchbox were there, but there was no Ollie. Oliver cursed himself. Ollie had asked for a phone so many times, and Oliver thought it a preposterous request for a seven-year-old. He’d finally told him not to ask again until he was 10, and honestly, Oliver had no plans to buy him one at ten either. They tried to limit screens, and saw no reason why a seven-year-old would ever need a cell phone. But, oh, how he wished Ollie had one now. 

Oliver felt his eyes stinging, probably from the wind, he thought. He pressed both eyes, hard, with the heels of his hands, drawing in a deep breath. Then he walked over to Danny’s. To his surprise, Danny’s mother answered the door, but she had her purse still draped over her shoulder. She’d just gotten home.

“Oliver! Are you okay? You look terrible,” she asked.

Oliver shook his head. “The traffic got us. Ollie’s backpack is at home, but Ollie isn’t there. Have you seen him” 

She shook her head. “No. Danny had a dental appointment this afternoon. Does Ollie have a key?” the woman asked. Oliver shook his head, his vision suddenly blurring again, damn wind. 

“We have had two keys made for him, but he lost them both. We didn’t give him a third one,” Oliver said, wondering what he’d been thinking when he made that moronic decision. _Whatever made him think he could be responsible for a child_ , he silently berated himself. 

“Please call if you see him,” he said, walking away. 

Olliver returned to the deck, where he fished a piece of paper and a pencil out of Ollie’s backpack, scribbling something quickly. He left a key and the barely legible note which said, “Ollie, go inside and call me. I’m looking for you. Love, Oliver.” 

Oliver pressed his eyes again, feeling the moisture of unshed tears of perhaps anger, fear, or frustration. He was unsure which. Some excess emotion that would be of no help now, so he choked them back and began going door to door. 

When Oliver was at the fifth house, he saw Elio pull into the driveway. Seconds later his phone rang. He updated Elio, who was staying as calm as could be expected. In Oliver’s desire to protect Elio, he began to present himself as more decisive and confident than he actually felt. “I’m going to hit these last few houses on our street to see if anyone has seen him. You go inside and call his friends from the neighborhood who aren’t on our street,” he instructed. 

“Okay,” Elio said, and Oliver could hear the shakiness in his voice. 

“Oliver, wait, I hear something,” Elio said. Oliver began walking back to their house, which was in view. He saw Elio run toward the back yard, and he began running in the same direction. 

“Elio! Ollie!” he called. 

“Here!” Elio called. 

Though he was moving at a full run, he felt like it took forever for him to reach the backyard. Eventually he did though, and there he found Elio sitting on the ground with a muddy, hysterical Ollie on his lap. When Oliver got closer, he realized that Ollie was struggling to get away from Elio, and Elio was struggling to keep a hold of him. Just as he got there and reached for Ollie, Ollie hit Elio hard in the chest with his fist. Oliver slid down to sit beside Elio, and pulled Ollie into his own arms. Once there, the little boy stopped fighting and wrapped his arms around his neck, laid his head on his shoulder, and melted into him while gasping for breath. 

Oliver patted his back and looked at Elio, who was sitting on the ground beside him, stunned. Oliver noticed smudges of mud on his pants and shirt that must have been transferred from Ollie. “Are you okay?” Oliver asked, but he was talking to Elio. 

“Yeah,” Elio answered, nodding, but he didn’t look okay. 

“Ollie, you scared us,” Oliver whispered. 

“You left me alone!” Ollie cried, and Oliver felt him grab a fistful of the back of his shirt. 

Oliver continued to rub little circles on his back, while also keeping a close eye on Elio, who looked rather pale. Oliver didn’t ask what happened, unsure of whether either of them were able to talk at the moment. 

But, Elio spoke anyway, “I found him under the house. He’d crawled under the deck.” 

Oliver felt Ollie, heavy and limp in his arms, heard him sniffling but his breathing was becoming more regular. 

Oliver lightly leaned into Elio, whispering “I’m so sorry.” He kissed the side of his face. “I’m so sorry,” he then said to Ollie, kissing him on his sweaty temple. Neither of them answered him, so he stood. Ollie seemed to have calmed down, so Oliver tried to set him down in order to attend to Elio, who was looking fragile, at least to Oliver. But as he leaned down to deposit Ollie onto the ground, he felt two little hands tightening their grip on his shirt. Oliver straightened again, knowing that Ollie was unwilling to be put down. 

He held out a hand to Elio, who took it. He pulled Elio up, holding Ollie in one arm, wrapping his other arm around Elio. “Let’s go in,” Oliver said, and so they did. He had never felt like he was such a disappointment to the people who loved him. And, Oliver knew a few things about disappointing people or so he’d been told. 

A few hours later, they’d given Ollie a bath. Elio had gotten cleaned up, too. Oliver had picked up dinner, and everyone was just having a quiet night playing checkers. No one had the mental energy for chess. 

After Elio and Ollie finished their best of 3 tournament, Oliver finally said, “Let’s have a family meeting before bed.” This was met by an unreadable look from Ollie and a mopey look from Elio, who took Ollie’s little hand and moved to the living room. They all sat together, cozy on the sofa. Oliver and Elio sat next to each other, Ollie sat on Elio's lap. Ollie had one arm raised over his head, where he’d found Elio’s hair which he began twisting around his little fingers. This seemed to have a calming effect on both of them. 

“Am I in trouble,” was the first thing Ollie wanted to know. Elio patted Ollie’s tummy lightly.

Oliver was surprised by the question. “No, of course not,” he said. “Why would you be in trouble?” 

Ollie shrugged. “I hit Elio.” 

“Ollie, you didn’t mean to hit Elio. You were just scared and upset,” he answered. 

Elio kissed the back of Ollie’s head and added, “We just want to make sure we have a better plan in case this happens again, that’s all.” 

“You’re not mad at me?” Ollie asked. 

“No. Not even a little. We were just worried about you. We were so worried when we knew we couldn’t get here in time. We were just as scared as you were, Ollie,” Oliver explained. 

Elio grasped Ollie’s little hand which was still busy fidgeting his hair. He held Ollie’s hand and gave it an affectionate little shake. 

“Anyway,” Oliver continued. “We are going to go this weekend to get you a little device,” he was unwilling to call it a phone, “It will let you call and text either of us, and we can call or text you, but it won’t have any other capabilities. No games, no Internet, nothing like that. It’s to stay charged and in your backpack. If this happens again, we can reach each other.” 

Ollie smiled for the first time, “Cool!” 

Later, when they put Ollie to bed, Elio laid down with him. “I’m going to stay until he’s asleep,” Elio said.

Oliver looked at the two people he loved most, laying side by side, and he wasn’t sure who was comforting whom. For his part, Oliver laid in bed, wide awake, wondering if he should go check on them or allow them time alone, but soon enough, Elio crept into the dark room. Oliver’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, so he relished the sight of Elio sliding slowly out of his clothes as he crossed the cool, dark room. Elio silently slipped into bed and rolled toward Oliver. Oliver wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. 

“Elio, I’m so sorry,” he began. 

Elio kissed him. “Don’t,” he muttered. 

“But I was…” he began. 

“It was a bad day,” Elio muttered, placing his hand on Oliver’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. Leaning to kiss his neck. “Let’s just let this day be over,” Elio whispered.

They smiled at one another for a long time before bidding adieu to the day, and welcoming the night in their favorite way. 

  
  



End file.
